OffsetGuitars.com

I first tried one some while back, but it didn't initially leave a strong impression. Although you'd think the weird geometric neck profile would be a polarizing love-it or hate-it kind of thing, it doesn't really feel much different than any other neck if you don't think about it. It made me start to rethink the whole obsession with neck profiles altogether.

But the guitar had no natural sustain or resonance, and combined with it's compact stature it gave an impression of being a plunky little toy guitar. The Fishman Fluence active humbuckers in it were predictably sterile sounding.

And the two biggest issues I still hold against them: they're quite expensive, and the Indonesian made guitars don't live up to the quality you should get at that price.

But at some time I ended up with a Made in Japan model. I think they're made by Dyna exclusively for sale in Japan. The prices are crazy high, but the quality is great.

Slowly, it began to grow on me over time. The small size is convenient and very light weight, around 5-6lbs. It's designed around ergonomics, and it's comfortable in a way that you don't think about it. The tuning stability is perfect. While I wouldn't say the hardware design is perfect, there's no play or rattle, and it works well. Overall it's low maintenance and durable, something you don't have any worries about. It became a guitar I would frequently reach for.

It has a quilt maple top and maple fingerboard. Fishman Fluence pickups with push-pull pots for changing the settings.



The inlays glow in the dark, and I think the "binding" on the neck and body are flame maple (but it might be lacewood). The fretwork is perfection.



The back of the neck is three piece roasted maple with a really nice satin finish.

Have no love for the design but the finish

the necks on these are incredible, i’ve wanted one for ages but haven’t found one i liked the sound of.

I think I'll give this one a miss.

I really like the way that fretboard fans. I've always seen them fan much more dramatically, and as a consequence, they've never actually been comfortable for me at either end of the neck. This looks like it could really work.

I'm sure it plays great, but looks hideous to me

mackerelmint wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 01, 2020 3:18 pm

I really like the way that fretboard fans. I've always seen them fan much more dramatically, and as a consequence, they've never actually been comfortable for me at either end of the neck. This looks like it could really work.

It doesn't look like a fan to me. Multiscales always have an inflection point (parallel fret) that can be set anywhere on the fretboard and progressively tip away from it in either direction.

This just looks like angled frets to me, kind of like the old Rickenbacker 481s.



Never paid attention to these guitars before, the use of punctuation in the name rubs me the wrong way and I'm trying to think of a way to describe their aesthetics without using the words "hideous" and "derivative" but am coming up short. It irks me that they're so blatantly based on 80's Steinberger guitars that they couldn't even bother to make the name more different.

They just took an old Steinberger design, reshaped it slightly, moved the decal from the treble side of the body to the bass side, added some punctuation marks to try to make the name "Strandberg" look less like "Steinberger" and added a weird neck carve. It still looks a whole lot like the Steinberger to me, which isn't a compliment.

mbene085 wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 02, 2020 5:10 am

mackerelmint wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 01, 2020 3:18 pm

I really like the way that fretboard fans. I've always seen them fan much more dramatically, and as a consequence, they've never actually been comfortable for me at either end of the neck. This looks like it could really work.

It doesn't look like a fan to me. Multiscales always have an inflection point (parallel fret) that can be set anywhere on the fretboard and progressively tip away from it in either direction.

This just looks like angled frets to me, kind of like the old Rickenbacker 481s.

Learn something new everyday. In any case, it actually looks like a playable fretboard to me.

i’m pretty sure just looking at it that it’s fanned, just less so than we’re used to seeing - appears to start straight and angle more extremely as it moves towards the bridge.

^^^

Right. I think we're all seeing the same thing, but Mike's pointing out that since it's not angled on both sides of the inflection point (in this case the zero fret), it's technically just a multiscale and not a "fan". It's a distinction I wasn't aware of before.

Well, the one I posted is definutely a multiscale- the third fret appears to be the perpendicular one (i mistyped "parallel" in my original post).

The first one posted definitely throws me off, because even the zero fret is slanted. But looking at it closer now, the lpws fret do look the tiniest bit less angled than the higher frets, so maybe it's a multiscale by a 1/4" or 1/2" or something.

The picture might be a little skewed from the angle, but on the 6-string the zero fret is straight perpendicular, and the scale goes from 25.5" down to 24.875". The 7 and 8 strings have a much more pronounced fan with longer scales.

I don't think you can blame the guy for being named Ola Strandberg. There's a slightly interesting story behind the design, but I suppose it's impossible to avoid drawing a line to Steinberger. In fact, I was probably looking for a Steinberger when I came across this. But it's definitely different in good ways, the shapes are well designed for functionality and comfort.

yeah, as a big fan of both strandberg and steinberger’s guitars, the similarities kinda end at headless-ness and body shape. the neck on a strandberg is unlike anything else i’ve ever played, it’s incredibly comfortable in a way that you really wouldn’t expect just looking at the profile. beyond that, bolt neck, and they’re all made of actual wood, which puts them closer to just a normal guitar in terms of sound. they sell on comfort and ergonomic perfection(and prog-metal looks/endorsements).

steinberger sold on unique sound and even output, as well as over-engineering i’m sure, which imo can’t be said of strandberg’s designs(this is also *steinberger*, not the spirit line by gibson, which i can’t imagine sells many guitars at all). my steinberger bass is easily my most uncomfortable instrument to hold, albeit easy to play, and it sounds absolutely nothing like a p-bass, where as a strandberg can be made to sound like a tele or a les paul pretty easily(in general they sound pretty damn boring to my ears, but i suppose these are the indonesian models op mentioned already).

I'm not a fan of the overall aesthetic, but I had no idea about what was going on round the back till I saw it in this thread. If it's a genuine innovation, rather than just a rehash of someone else's idea (as the obvious Steinbergerism of the whole appears to be), then hats off to them for redesigning the wheel.

Interesting to note that it can be made to sound like both a Telecaster and a Les Paul, too. So it's a Line6 Variax meets a Steinberger, then...?